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Retirement in Denver Overview

[0:00] Retirement looks different for everyone. You know, some people want the energy of the city, but for a lot of people, what they want is peace, quiet, and a neighborhood that feels like home. And that's why Littleton and Ken Carroll keep coming up for my clients time after time with people wanting to move here, wanting to retire here. You know, these areas are going to give you a bit more house for your money. You're going to have a lot more private trails, some right in your backyard, and you're going to have a real sense of community, but it's all within reach of Denver. Look, I've been helping people buy and sell in the Denver area for over 15 years, and I can tell you Ken, Carol, and Littleton have some big pros, and there's also a few things that you should watch out for if you're going to make the move here.

[0:43] So, in this video, I'm going to be breaking down everything. Lifestyle, vibe, what your money actually buys here. Uh, the outdoor access, right? amenities, healthcare, airport, travel, and of course the watch outs. And by the end, you're going to know if Littleton and Ken Carroll are kind of right for you. And if while going through this you want to get a comprehensive guide on retiring in the Denver metro area and the places you should be looking at, just go ahead and download this luxury retirement guide here or you can call me, text me on my cell phone anytime.

Littleton & Ken Caryl Neighborhoods

[1:14] I'd be happy to help. All right, starting out with the lifestyle and the vibe here in Littleton and Ken Carroll. You know, there's some of the more unique places in the metro area because of the balance of that small town feeling that downtown Littleton gives you, but yet you've got the foothills just to the west. So, access to outdoors is just topnotch. You know, downtown Littleton, it has the charming historic downtown with the brick buildings, the restaurants, breweries, boutique shops, coffee shops. It's right out of Hallmark. Literally, they've recorded a Hallmark movie here. And it actually feels like a little mountain town, but you're only 20 minutes from downtown Denver. You can walk down Main Street on a Saturday and you're going to have the farmers market there. You're going to have people at the coffee shop sitting there. You're going to have live music playing, but it's also not cookie cutter suburbia. It's got its own personality.

[2:05] Ken Carroll, on the other hand, is tucked kind of closer to the foothills. You know, you're going to have the rolling hills. You're going to have red rock views and homes that back up to private trails. you know, it's going to feel a bit more secluded, a bit more private, and a little bit more upscale than most of Littleton. Uh neighbors here tend to be more outdoorsy, active, and love that kind of away from it all vibe while still being close to the city. Now, don't get me wrong, Littleton's got it, too. And we're kind of combining these because, well, when you look on a map like I'm about to show you, it might be a little confusing. So, let's kind of straighten out. Littleton versus Ken Carroll. So, if you were to just go to Google Maps and you were to type in Littleton, Colorado, it's going to come up with a map here that runs from about oh, Belleview on the north to 85, which is Santa Fe on the west, all the way down to 470 on the south. And you're going to go, "Oh, okay. That is Littleton." And then if you looked up Ken Carroll, you're going to see it way down here to the southwest. And you know what's what's makes this a little bit confusing is that Ken Carroll is actually in Littleton. Okay. But and so you got this just like this one box over here. Then you got Coline and then Governor's Ranch and Foothill Greens.

[3:20] And you know, I've never met anybody who said I live in Coline. You just don't ever say that. You say you live in Littleton or you live in Ken Carroll. Because if we were to go to, let's say, Zillow and you were to look up houses in Littleton, it's enormous. Like look at this map. This is the entire southwest metro Denver area essentially. Uh and it doesn't even include the areas that I would consider a good chunk of Ken Carroll. So little line discrepancy here, but then it goes all the way down to Roxboro State Park, uh which is a healthy drive south, and you're going to feel like you're kind of in the middle of nowhere. lots of new builds down there. Um, and so for this video, you know, I'm not even going to cover much of the stuff on the outside of the 470 loop because it's a completely different feel. You are in the foothills, Sterling Ranch to the south, not so much. This is a master plan community down here, as is the Roxboro Park area where there's quite a bit for sale. But I'm going to have a whole separate video on that. So, don't worry. We're going to cover your bases if your requirement is to be in the foothills. But if you want to be much closer to everything, right, amenities in general and you're looking Littleton and Ken Carroll, this is really the footprint that you'd be looking at. Okay. Now, as far as real estate goes, uh, you know, Littleton and Ken Carroll are not known for being the affordable places to live in the Denver metro area. They're not. They're just not. You know, unlike Lakewood, bit more affordable. Arvvada, more so, Centennial, yes. Uh, but Littleton and Ken Herald, you live here because you want to be here, right? You're at a point in life where you're okay with spending a little bit more to have the location that you want. Now, starting off, you have your pick of the lifestyle you want. If you want a single family home with acreage or at least around an acre, you've got it. If you want horse property, there are some options available within the city limits here still. Uh, I'll show you those. Uh, if you want a newer town home or condo with very little to no maintenance, you've got it covered. If you want walkability to coffee shops, great. If you want to be a little further out, great. If you want to prioritize being on a golf course, great. And we're going to show it to you. So, starting around downtown Littleton, right? The downtown Littleton is just a few blocks long. It's really cute. Uh, it's really nice. And actually, I'm going to show you what downtown Littleton looks like here. Um, you know, it's got amazing Christmas lights in the Christmas time of year.

Property Types & Price Ranges

[5:55] You've got coffee shops. You've got cute little restaurants. You've always got people walking around little thrift stores, um, little boutique shops. Like, it's cute when I say, you know, it's a little Hallmarky town. It 100% is. I don't know the name of the movie right now, but they did shoot one in Littleton because of this downtown area. Um, really cute. This is when friends are coming into town. This is where you're going to go to a restaurant for the most part. Uh, you know, and that's it's one of the big draws to Littleton. It's got one of the few downtown areas that people actually want to be around. You know, there's Littleton, there's Arvvada, there's Parker, there's Golden.

[6:31] Uh, Wash Park and Plat Park. Uh, tend to be the top listed cities when people are like, "Hey, I want my neighbor co neighborhood coffee shop. I want my neighborhood restaurant. I want my neighborhood bar." Like Littleton fits that bill. Now, being close to downtown Littleton, not a ton of options. You do have some newer build sort of properties. So, we've got something like this at about 785. Uh this is kind of a condo, but it's going to be on the newer side. Three bedrooms, four baths, 2,000 square ft, 785,000, but it's going to be super low maintenance. Your finishes are going to be builder grade or on the nicer side of builder grade. uh just kind of a notch up, but everything's going to be new. So, your maintenance, you know, over the next 20 to 30 years is going to be extremely low and you're going to have walkability to downtown Littleton. When you get into single families, most of the time you have to back up and you have to zoom out a little bit and you have to get to what could be walkable, but most likely you're probably going to drive. And you can find some nice homes close to downtown, right? Four bedrooms, three baths, 2300 square ft², fully updated over on Cedar Street here. Again, it's going to be builder graded, a little bit nicer. Uh, but I mean, they even prioritized a, you know, rooftop patio here for you. Uh, and, you know, beautiful garage. Like, this is a beautiful home, you know, so you can find great homes under a million dollars, but you're still going to have your typical maintenance of a not brand new single family home. So, if that's something you're looking for, you know, we're going to have to go that much further out. Now, as I zoom out a little bit, as we go south in Littleton, again, you're going to have your pick of what you want. If you want a nicer town home, larger town home, again, lower maintenance. Uh you've got your range of properties down here. Uh we've got something like this, 770,000, four bedrooms, two baths, 2500 ft². So, these neighborhoods are going to be a little bit quieter, little bit older once again. Um, but then we're going to have some neighborhoods where you get newer properties down in this southern part of Littleton. So, again, it's all depending on what you're looking for. If you want to be close to Littleton, but yet you want a horse property, there's a couple of neighborhoods here off of Range View and Windermir that you have this option.

Southern Littleton & Horse Properties

[9:04] Now, currently there are none of the horse properties for sale. So, I did have to look up some sold properties, but here we've got this one, 2.7 million. Uh, six bedrooms, four baths, 5200 ft². So, this is a large home. Uh, but you do have a pool here. So, this is a place where the whole family can hang out. And you do have the horse stalls um all set up for your horses if that's something up your alley. But in these neighborhoods, there's only a couple that sell every single year. So, you've really got to be on high alert watching and waiting to see what comes up. Uh, but again, if you have any questions, you can feel free reach out to me and I'll set up you a customized search for horse properties in Littleton. If you're placing a priority on, let's say, uh, a house close to the golf course, you've got Coline Valley, which again technically isn't Littleton, but it's Littleton. And this whole stretch here of green space just to the western side of downtown is all kind of open space trails all along the Plat River. It's really pretty here. Hudson Garden Centers has a lot of events every year.

Outdoor Recreation & Parks

[10:11] It's kind of like a botanic garden scaled down, but it is open to the public and it is free except for the events. They've got like a Halloween event that they do. They have their Christmas lighting event which is pretty incredible. Uh those are not free, but the other times you can just go through here and walk through Hudson Gardens. it is free. And then you have all the trail system to the south of it. But to the west here in Coline Valley, you have the Coline Club, uh, Country Club, and the golf course. So these properties, you can't really tell here, but this is the golf course. Um, and you know, if you want to be right along it, there's some older homes here, there's some newer homes here. 4200 ft², four bedrooms, two baths, just around 2 million. And this backs up to one of the fairways. Uh, so you do have some options here if you want more of that club lifestyle.

[11:01] Littleton's got it here in the Coline area. Now, as we back up, we can go even further to the southwest. So, this is where we start to get into the Ken Carroll area. You're going to have a lot of different picks, and this is where budget is kind of setting the tone for where you want to be. So, if you're in the 1 millions or a little bit above, you've got some beautiful neighborhoods here like Ken Carroll Ranch area, which are larger properties are like half an acre. Uh, but you get 5,000 6,000 square foot homes. This one's at 1.3 million. I've got some clients who live in this neighborhood and they're just beautifully large homes, quiet neighborhoods. Uh, the HOA is nice. It's not overbearing or anything like that. um you know, but you can kind of have that bigger sprawling house feel if that's what you're looking for further to the southwest and you're literally minutes to the foothills here.

[12:01] I mean, you can ride your bike and this is where the foothills start on the other side of 470. Okay. And if you do want a new property, you're talking new new brand new property, uh you've got the Ken Carroll Ranch Plains over here. I forget the developer. Um, but again, around the $1 million mark, three bedrooms, three baths, 4,700 ft², but you're going to have brand new everything. So, this is the type of home where you're not going to have to worry about major systems for 20 to 30 years, right? Roof, furnace, sewer, electrical panel, anything like that. Uh, and you've got your pick. Again, this is a newer development that's happening. And there's a couple of these small developments. There's not these big sprawling developments in Littleton because there's just not that much land available. And then if you want to be close to the water, you know, you've got your options here. Over in Marston Lake area, uh you could be real close. Kind of a '9s built two-story home. Kind of your classic everyday American household, but you're right on the water. So, if that's a priority to you and fishing, you've got your options.

[13:07] and you've got a dozen other small lakes and bodies of water through Ken, Carol, and Littleton that you can pick from. Uh now, again, not going to get into the west of 470, even though it's technically Littleton on a map. Uh but these are some phenomenal areas that if you are retiring, you should absolutely be looking at. So, I will have a link in the description for that video for you to check out for the western side of town. We're talking Golden down through Morrison down through Red Rocks down through South Valley Park into Chadfield area, Sterling Ranch, and Roxboro Park.

[13:46] And I can't get off this screen without mentioning Chadfield Reservoir. So, Chadfield Reservoir connects through this trail system from downtown Littleton all throughout Littleton and Ken Carroll to the Chatfield Reservoir. And there are miles and miles of trails. We go just about every single weekend. My wife does triathlon swimming here in one of the smaller ponds uh down on the south side and you know it's just really nice. It's a good size reservoir. You can take full-size boats on there. Wake boarding uh is not uncommon. Fishing, but then there's just miles and miles of trails. There's a bird sanctuary on the southern part of the park, I believe. Uh and so you can come here. Lots of bird watchers. I see horses here all the time. uh taking my dogs on long three- mile walks or more. Um and we only get halfway around the reservoir. Shoot, we only get about a quarter of the way out around the reservoir to be honest with you. It is a large body of water. Uh and so, you know, for just hanging out, weekend activities, paddle boarding, stuff like that. Like Chatfield Reservoir is just your neighbor just to the south of you, which is another huge draw for being in the Littleton Ken Carroll area because it's outside of the foothills. um you know, but it gives you that water if if if you're just attracted to being close to a big body of water like there's this and there's Cherry Creek Reservoir. Um and that's pretty much it around the Denver metro area for large bodies of water. So I get a lot of people requesting, you know, to be in this part of town due to Chatfield State Park. All right, so outdoor access and recreation, we covered it a little bit, but this is where Littleton and King Carol just shine, right? If you're retiring here, the outdoors is basically your backyard and your playground. You know, Littleton alone has more than about 1,400 acres of parks and open space, plus over about 200 miles of trails. Uh you can bike the Mary Carter Greenway Trail and fish at Chatfield Reservoir, or you can kind of take a morning walk through Hudson Gardens area that we just talked about. You can take the bike trails here for 40 miles. You can go a long way from the heart of Littleton. They've really placed a priority on that. Now, Ken Carroll is even a little bit better for outdoor access. Uh you got 4,800 acres of private open space with about 50 miles of trails alone in Ken Carroll. So, you can just imagine kind of walking out your back door and being on a hiking path with red rocks and deer grazing right across the street. Uh it's not just hiking, you know, there's tennis courts, there's swimming pools, equestrian facilities, pickle ball courts, fitness classes, and they're all built into the community amenities. And if you love golf, of course, there are multiple courses nearby. You know, you've got Arrowhead, which is beautiful. I've played there, I think only one time, and I played a horrible game, but I was just appalled at where I was standing. the red rock features here, uh, you know, hitting a ball 200 yards off of a 100 foot cliffside, like it was so dramatic and incredible. And then you have Deer Creek as well, which is another local favorite. So, this is the place to be staying if an active outdoors is the non-negotiable part of your retirement. Now, amenities. You know, Littleton and Ken Carroll, they both have everything you need for your day-to-day life. You know, downtown Littleton has got a ton of restaurants, coffee shops, breweries, boutiques.

[17:10] You've also got Aspen Grow Shopping Center in South Glenn Mall, just kind of minutes away. Grocery stores, gyms, banks, hardware stores, all of it is going to be close by just about anywhere you're at in Littleton. Ken Carroll, little more residential uh and little more tucked into the hills on the western side, but you've still got shopping centers, you know, within 5 to 10 minutes of just about everywhere.

[17:32] You've got Highlands Ranch to your southeast, uh, and Lakewood to the north. So, if what you're absolutely looking for isn't there, you know, it's just a 10-minute drive to get there. And one of the best parts of this area is you don't feel like you're stuck in the middle of nowhere. You know, you're you get the quiet suburban or the foothills vibe and lifestyle. Uh, but the Target run or a date night dinner is just a couple minutes away. And healthc care always comes up with my folks that are moving here, especially of retired age because it's a big consideration. Let's be real. As we get older, things just don't work right. So, you've got Littleton Advent Hospital is right in town, really highly rated. You've got UC Health Highlands Ranch Hospital, which is nearby, and you have Swedish Medical Center, which is about 15inute drive.

Healthcare & Proximity

[18:21] Between those three, you've got some of the best cardiac, orthopedic, and emergency care in Colorado. Now, there's also, of course, a ton of smaller clinics, dentist, physical therapy centers, specialist spread throughout the area. So, whether it's routine care or something a bit more serious, you're definitely covered. I would say in general, the Denver metro area and all of Colorado prides itself on health and its health care providers. So, I have a lot of people moving here simply for that reason. You know, the bottom line is you don't have to drive into Denver to get highquality health care. It's all going to be really close to you. So, being that you're recently retired or about to be, uh, you're probably going to be traveling quite a bit. So, getting to DIA and getting out to the airport is only about a 45 to 55minute drive. You can just take the 470 loop on the southern side of town all the way around. It's never too bad. On the plus side, Littleton does have light rail stations. So, if you want to go downtown for a game or dinner or something, uh, or a theater, you can hop on the train and you can skip the parking, right?

[19:25] Dayto-day though, you're going to be driving. You know, these are definitely car dependent neighborhoods. Uh, you're not going to be getting around with just an ebike or a bicycle. Um, you definitely need a car. So, here's what Littleton and Ken Carroll do best to kind of wrap it up. Scenery, outdoor lifestyle is going to be right outside your door. Many of the properties here are going to have mountain views or back up to open space, which is a high priority for a lot of people moving here. So, you have a trail right outside. So, you can just take your dog for a walk without having to drive far.

[19:59] You've got more space and value than you do in the inner city neighborhoods like Wash Park, Plat Park, Congress Park, things like that. Uh you're going to have a decent community vibe down here, especially in historic Littleton. Um again, got that Hallmark feel. You're going to get to know the business owners here. Lots of small businesses in the Littleton area. And you've got some top rated schools and low crime. Even if you don't have kids, it still talks a lot about stability. We've got friends that were teachers in middle school and even though they were in Denver proper, you know, they took their kids to the Littleton school district for a reason.

Schools & Wildlife Considerations

[20:37] They're really wellrated. So, you're close enough to Denver, but you're far enough away for peace and quiet, but you have access to Denver when you actually want it. All right. And now, the watch outs or the cons. Well, you are the furthest from DIA in the Denver metro area, so you know, 50 minutes or so is not going to be uncommon. Uh, so if getting to DIA is a high priority, you're probably not going to love it down here. It's car dependent again, so you have to be comfortable. Yes, we do get some snow. Uh, and so you're going to occasionally have to drive in that.

[21:09] You're going to have a lot more older housing stock here in Littleton than a lot of the parts of the rest of Denver. You really got to go south to Sterling Ranch or you've got to look in some pockets. You know, Highlands Ranch is going to be a little bit newer, but still 20 to 30 year old homes. So, you're going to have a limited supply of inventory if you are looking for a new property, but you can still get there.

[21:33] And then wildlife and weather, right? In Ken Carroll, it's not uncommon to see deer, elk, and the occasional bear on the western side of town. Uh that's going to mean some fencing, some landscaping, and snow removal that can be a little bit more involved in the winter months. So, if your vision of retirement is mountain views and private trails and a community that feels a little bit more laid-back, Littleton and Ken Carroll could be a perfect fit for you. you know, you're going to trade some of the conveniences of the city for a little bit more space and scenery, but for a lot of people, that's exactly what makes it worth it. And if you're trying to navigate what you want to do and where you want to be in the Denver metro area, again, call me, text me. I will answer my phone as long as I'm available. Uh, or you can download the comprehensive luxury retirement guide here that will give you a lot more information about helping you navigate where you want to be in the Denver metro area. Now, there are a lot of misconceptions about Denver, about Colorado, and that's why I put together this video that you should check out.